Fireflies
by LegolasLover2003
Summary: POTC: DMC spoilersish! ONE SHOT! Will and Elizabeth discuss some issues when at Tia Dalma's bayou. Takes place directly after the film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.


**Title:  
**Fireflies 

**Written By:  
**LegolasLover2003 aka Ashley

**Category:  
**Movies - _Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest_

**Genre:  
**Romance/Drama

**Rating:  
**PG

**Note:  
**This is a ONE SHOT STORY!  
This story also contains MASS SPOILERS for the 2nd installment of _Pirates of the Caribbean_.  
If you HAVE NOT seen the movie, see the movie first.  
I'm warning you now.

**Note 2:**  
This story takes place directly after the events of _Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.  
_I mean literally right after.  
It's the same night that they arrive at Tia Dalma's after the battle with the Kraken.  
It's about some unresolved issues between Will and Elizabeth.  
Since I am NOT a fan of Jack/Elizabeth, it's Elizabeth's explination of the kiss she and Jack shared, as well as Will's determination to keep his promise to his father, even though things look so very bleak.

* * *

**Fireflies**

* * *

The gentle lulling chirp of crickets, and the soft glow of the fireflies over the bayou, put Will's mind far away from recent events. A humid heat lingered in the air, making sweat bead on the man's forehead, his clothes clinging to him with every breath.

He was so very tired...

The small hut in which Will found himself actually belonded to Tia Dalma. It was, after all, her bayou.

Will stood at the window, letting the sounds of the night wisk his mind away. What was left of the crew were staying in another hut not too far away. There had been only five beds there, meaning that Will now shared another hut with his fiancee.

Where Elizabeth was, however, the blacksmith couldn't tell.

Everything had happened so quickly that it made Will's head spin. The poor man hadn't had a decent night's sleep since before he and Elizabeth's ruined wedding. In fact, the only sleep he'd gotten since joining up with Captain Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl was really when one of Davy Jones' crew members knocked him out cold. Course, the oar to his head, courtesy of Jack, had given him a few more extra minutes of blissful unconsciousness.

_'Jack...'_ Will found himself thinking of the pirate, _'Can I say that any of this is my fault? If I had maybe tried to stop the Dutchman... but how?' _the man closed his eyes as a wave of anger and grief washed over him. _'I tried to kill that monstrous Kraken... but in the end... in the end all I could do was watch helplessly...'_

He slammed one of his fists down onto the window sill, shaking the small hut. The movement however, jarred new injuries that had yet to heal. Carefully, Will removed his jacket and the belt that hung from one shoulder to his hip. He peeled away the vest he wore, stripping off the tattered remains of his white cotton shirt, exposing the painful scars beneath the cloth.

The scars had not yet healed, Will knew, and were likely to get infected soon. He winced, though more out of revulsion when he looked at the blood on his shirt and vest.

"Oh, God... Will..." came a voice from behind.

The man spun, just in time to see a wodden tray, carrying a small porcealin teapot and cups, crash to the ground and shatter. His brown eyes traveled upward to find Elizabeth's startled face. Her hands were over her mouth, trying to mask her shock.

"It's not as bad as it looks." the blacksmith lied tiredly, a small yet sad smile on his face. "Really."

His fiancee however, was not to be swayed. "What happened?" she asked, stepping over and ignoring the broken china.

Will sat down on the edge of the bed, his torn shirt held loosely by his fingers. The man's bare chest was not lost on his fiancee as Elizabeth sat at his side.

"It's nothing... really." Will tried to convince her. "I'm just tired. I haven't had any sleep in the last few days ang..."

"Don't try and change the subject, William Turner." Elizabeth hastily replied. "You did all of this for me, and don't dare say that it was to save yourself as well, because you never have been afraid of dying." her eyes softened as she reached out a tentative hand, placing it over the blacksmith's own, and over the blood soaked shirt. "Please Will... I'm your fiancee. I have a right to know..."

Storm ybrown eyes caught the woman's gaze, "Like I've got the right to know what happened between you and Jack after Sparrow tricked me into being caught by Davy Jones?" Will replied, barely restrained anger tinting his words. "I saw you kiss him!"

He was surprised at the harsh sound of his own voice, so much so that he stood and paced to the other side of the small room.

When Will turned back however, his expression of anger melted immediately.

Elizabeth remained silent where she was. She bit her bottom lip, chewing on it as if to distract her from other thoughts, trying hard not to let the tears in her eyes come.

But it was too late.

Will rushed to her, kneeling in front of his fiancee. "Elizabeth, I..."

"Oh, Will..." the woman whispered in heartbroken anguish. She placed her hands on either side of the man's face, her tears coming so fast that she felt as if she'd drown. "Will, I've done something dreadful... It's all my fault!"

Will shook his head, rising to sit next to the crying woman. He took Elizabeth into his arms, holding her gently as she sobbed into his naked shoulder.

"Jack's dead because of what I've done! He didn't volunteer to stay behind, I... I tricked him... I... That's why I kissed him, Will! I chained his wrist to the mast! It... it was all a distraction! I just... I feel horrible about it, but... but it wasn't us that the Kraken wanted... It wanted Jack and... and now... and now he... he's..."

Will calmly ran his fingers through the woman's hair. "You saved us, Elizabeth." the man whispered, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"But that doesn't make it right!" she screamed at him, sitting up quickly and starring into the blacksmith's eyes. "That doesn't make what I did right! I condemned him, Will... I... I _KILLED_ him..."

"No!" Will shouted, taking Elizabeth by the arms and forcing her to look up at him. "Jack made his decision when he made his deal with Davy Jones. It wasn't your fault or mine nor anyone elses but his own." the man swallowed hard. "It's all been his fault."

Elizabeth was silent for a long moment. When she finally spoke, it was quiet, her own eyes searching her fiancee's troubled gaze.

"It is all his fault." she smiled sadly, a small laugh escaping her as she wiped away the tear tracks on her cheeks with a quick swipe of one hand. Sniffing, she continued her sentence. "If not for Jack... I'd be married to Norrington right now."

Will's smile matched her own, "And I'd still be making swords for a lazy old bastard."

"Yet here we are." the woman went on. "Wanted by the East India Company and King and Crown alike... for following what we knew was right."

The man nodded, "For following our hearts."

The couple shared a long moment of peace, starring into the eyes of one another. They sat that way for quite a time, neither moving, neither speaking... just enjoying the company of each other.

Then of course, a curse from Pintel, from the other hut, about Ragetti and his wooden eye set the two to laughing.

Elizabeth smiled, putting a hand up to her face to try and stifle her laughter. Her eyes locked with Will's, and the blacksmith smiled.

"You never told me what happened." the woman spoke, pointing over his shoulder. "Your back... It needs to be treated."

Will turned, allowing his fiancee to view the cuts fully. "A gift from Davy Jones." he replied.

The man knew that he would never tell another soul who gave him those cuts, those soon to be scars. No... his father had saved him from a far worse fate... and now Will had to save Bootstrap all the same.

As Elizabeth cleaned the open wounds with a cloth and water, Will's eyes gazed out the nearby window.

"Do you think we can bring Jack back?" the blacksmith asked. "That we can save Jack... and get rid of Davy Jones?"

The woman was silent for a moment, "If Barbossa can be trusted... then yes. We've a good chance. Why?"

Will smiled as dozens of fireflies lit up the bayou beyong their tiny hut. He thought of home, or his childhood, and of the man whom he had been searching for nearly his entire life.

"Because I've got a promise to keep."

* * *

**THE END...**

* * *


End file.
